Nolensville: It’s looking like late fall for rec center

Williamson County Parks and Recreation Department project coordinator Red Barry says that his team is “working hard to get this done as soon as we can.” But the anticipation is tough for Nolensville residents.
(Photo:
Sanford Myers / File / The Tennessean
)

On an everyday drive-by basis, our recreation center looks pretty quiet, but progress continues, much of it on things we don’t see. If there’s a good guesstimate on its opening, it would be fall.

“I don’t have an exact date, because of all that rock mess,” says Doug Hood, director of the Williamson County Parks and Recreation Department. “If I’m guessing, it would be October.”

When I asked about opening dates in February, summer was talked about. That was pretty hopeful, even if everything had gone perfectly. Progress slowed down when it was discovered that the whole parking lot area needed reinforcement. Two to 4 feet of dirt was dug up and the area was backfilled with rock.

“Citizens want it done, we want it done,” Hood says.

Project coordinator Red Berry must be tired of seeing me by now, but he offered me a hard hat and we walked through the rec center to see progress.

“We’re working hard to get this done as soon as we can,” says Berry, also with the Parks and Recreation Department.

The concrete floor of the pool is finished. Installing gunite, which makes the walls, was also scheduled to be finished last week.

Electric poles were coming down last Wednesday and the rewiring of the building is 90 percent complete. All utilities are underground. Plumbing is also 90 percent complete; fixtures are not in the building yet.

The steel frame for the lobby, which fronts Nolensville Road, was being installed last week.

A roof on the pool house is scheduled to be started next week, after trusses come in.

Oh, we can’t wait, but we will.

Miles for Amelia: After last year’s wildly successful Miles for Amelia fundraiser, the second annual event is set for 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the track at Nolensville Park.

People may sign up to walk or run laps on the track to raise money for Tucker’s House, a Spring Hill nonprofit that helps families retrofit their homes for the needs of physically challenged children.

People may sponsor a runner for a flat rate of $25, a couple for $40 or a whole family $50, or they can pay by the lap.

Organized by the Nolensville Running Club, the event was conceived last year to help one of its members, Steven Fleming, to help pay for renovations to his Bent Creek home to make it more accessible for one of his twin daughters, Amelia, who has spina bifida.

Last year’s fundraiser brought in $22,000, much more than what they needed. The overage went to help three other families through Tucker’s House.